The boy travellers in the Far East : adventures of two youths ... - Library

330
THE BOY TRAVELLKRS.
would be told by liis friends, "Serves you right for not giving your ship
eyes to see with."
The steamer descended the Woosung River to its intersection with the
Yang-tse-kiang, and then began the ascent of the latter. The great stream
was so broad that it seemed more like a bay than a river. This condition
continued for a hundred and fifty miles, when the bay narrowed to a river,
and the far-famed Silver Island came in sight. It stands in mid-sti'eam, a
steep hill of rock, about three hundred feet high, crowned with a jMgoda,
and covered from base to summit with trees and bushes and rich grass.
At first it might be taken for an uninhabited spot, but as the boat ap-
proaches you can see that there are numerous summer-houses and other
habitations peeping out from the verdure. A little beyond the island
there is a city which straggles over the hills, and is backed by a range of
mountains that make a sharjo outline against the sky. This is Chin-kiang,
the first stopping-place of the steamer as she proceeds from Shanghai to
ITan-kow. She was to remain several hours, and our friends embraced the
opportunity to take a stroll on shore. Here is Frank's account of the ex-
pedition :
A CHINESE FAMILY J-ARTV.
" The streets of Chin-kiang are narrow and dirty, and the most of
them that we saw seemed to be paved with kitchen rubbish and other un-
savory substances. The smells that rose to our nostrils were too numer-
ous and too disagreeable to mention ; Fred says he discovered fifty-four
distinct and different ones, but I think there were not more than forty-
seven or forty-eight. The Doctor says we have not fairly tested the city,
as there are several wards to hear from in addition to the ones we visited
in our I'amble. I was not altogether unprepared for these unpleasant